Battlefield 4: The Hunt for Megalodon

The greatest Easter egg of all time, or the greatest rumor?

Megalodon: An extinct species of shark that lived approximately 28 to 1.5 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era (late Oligocene to early Pleistocene). - Via Wikipedia

If you watched Shark Week this year, you know all about Megalodon. A giant, prehistoric shark that was thought to grow up to 18 meters in length and weigh about 60 metric tons. In other words, comparable to a city bus. Earlier this week, YouTube commentator JackFrags presented evidence that the great Megalodon may not be extinct, at least not in Battlefield 4. Let's examine some of the evidence.

The campaign, like many games, had players find collectibles in each mission. In Battlefield 4, players can collect dog tags hidden throughout the levels. During the third mission of the game -- South China Sea -- the first dog tag collected was called Carcharodon, a family of white sharks which possibly included the Megalodon. Check out the dog tag for yourself.

Another piece of circumstantial evidence popped up just two days after the release of Battlefield 4. The well-known YouTube series called Battlefield Friends posted a video for the launch of the game. In it are several references to dinosaurs, as well as Megalodon. As one character is making his way across Paracel Storm by jet ski, the other yells out to him to get out of the water, that there's a Megalodon. The other characters dispute this, with the noob replying, “OK, you'll see" Have a look at the full episode below.

That brings us to the China Rising DLC, which brought about some of the most interesting evidence to this point. China Rising featured 14 Easter eggs in the form of Zhong Kui statues. Well, each one had a number on it which was written in Braille. Each number corresponded with a letter of the alphabet, which spelled bumpinthenight. At first, players had no idea what this meant.

China Rising also featured an assignment called the Phantom Prospect. In that assignment, players who logged into Battlelog could visit the Leaderboards page. When they scrolled to the bottom, there was a skull -- similar to the image for the assignment -- that when clicked would lead to another page. The page was full of code, and at the end, asked for a pass code. Of course, the pass code turned out to be bumpinthenight. The next time players logged into Battlefield 4, a message popped up, advising them Phantom Program Phase 1 had been unlocked. Check out this Prima Games video explaining how to unlock the assignment.

As JackFrags pointed out, Phantom Prospect didn't really have anything to do with Battlefield 4 or the China Rising DLC. But some further investigation revealed that Phantom Prospect was actually a book written by Alex Archer. The book's synopsis reads as follows.

Intrepid treasure hunters believe they have discovered the final resting place of Fantome, a legendary warship that wrecked off Nova Scotia almost two hundred years ago. She was rumored to have gone down with an extraordinary treasure. But circling beneath the ocean's surface waits something unbelievable... and terrifying. Some unfortunate divers have encountered a massive, thought-to-be-extinct shark known as the Megalodon. - Via Amazon

The final piece of evidence doesn't specifically mention Megalodon, but is an admission by DICE that there is something in the game. Aleksander Grøndal, a producer at DICE on the multiplayer side of things mentioned a secret that very few people know about. He didn't reveal much about it other than it was still in the game and that when triggered, everyone on the server would notice.

If you'd like to check out the original JackFrags video for yourself, have a look.

We know there is something in Battlefield 4. The evidence that it could be a giant prehistoric shark known as Megalodon is compelling, although not conclusive. What do you think this Easter egg is? Is Megalodon lurking underneath the giant waves of Paracel Storm, or is this just a fantastic trick from DICE? Let us know.